Casey - Lakeland: journeys into the soul of Canada

Journeys into
the Soul of Canada

LAKELAND

ALLAN CASEY

Copyright 2009 by Allan Casey

09 10 11 12 13 5 4 3 2 1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written consent of the publisher or a licence from The Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency (Access Copyright). For a copyright licence, visit www.accesscopyright.ca or call toll free to 1-800 -893-5777.

Greystone Books
A division of D&M Publishers Inc.
2323 Quebec Street, Suite
Vancouver BC Canada V5T 4S7
www.greystonebooks.com

David Suzuki Foundation
219 2211 West 4th Avenue
Vancouver BC Canada V6K 4S2

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Casey, Allan
Lakeland : journeys into the soul of Canada / Allan Casey.

ISBN-Hardcover: 978-1-55365-308-0
ISBN-Ebook: 978-1-926812-15-1
1. LakesCanada. 2. CanadaDescription and travel. I. Title.
FC223.L35 C38 2009 551.4820971 C2009-901027-5
Copublished by the David Suzuki Foundation.
Includes bibliographical references.

Editing by Susan Folkins
Cover design by Naomi MacDougall
Cover photograph by Daryl Benson/Getty Images
Printed and bound in Canada by Friesens
Printed on acid-free paper that is forest friendly (100% post-consumer
recycled paper) and has been processed chlorine free.
Distributed in the U.S. by Publishers Group West

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the British Columbia Arts Council, the Province of British Columbia through the Book Publishing Tax Credit, and the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP) for our publishing activities.

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely, or
unhappy is to go outside, somewhere they can be quite alone with
the heavens... amidst the simple beauty of Nature.
ANNE FRANK,The Diary of a Young Girl

CONTENTS

Only in Canada
The Proximate Wilderness

The Home Place
Emma Lake, Saskatchewan

The Grey Wizard
Ajawaan Lake, Saskatchewan

The Citizen Ship of Science
Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba

Almost the Sea
Bras dOr Lake, Nova Scotia

Finding Lakeland
The Lakes of Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland

The Ice Road
Lake Athabasca, Alberta-Saskatchewan

Eat the Peach Lake
Okanagan, British Columbia

Riding in Boats with Women
Lake of the Woods, Ontario

The Walleye Factory
Lake Nipissing, Ontario

La Grande Traverse
Lac Saint-Jean, Quebec

Into the Lake-Lap of the Mountain
Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta

Epilogue
The Home Place Again

A S WITH many works of nonfiction, the front cover of this one is make-believe in that it credits only one person. These pages could not have made the journey to completion without the participation of many people, literally from coast to coast.

I am grateful to Rick Boychuk, who was enthusiastic from the concept stage and kindly assigned me to write feature stories for Canadian Geographic magazine that would become the raw material for the Lake Okanagan and Lake Winnipeg chapters.

I wish to thank the entire CG team, and in particular Elizabeth Shilts for her brave editorial work. It was Jim Sutherland of Western Living magazine in Vancouver who sent me over the ice of Lake Athabascajust one of his many bold departures from editorial orthodoxy in a career that has produced so many informative, entertaining magazine pages. Thanks also to Sheila Hansen of Westworld magazine, who has published much lake-related material of mine over the years, research that has helped shape this work. A version of the Ajawaan Lake chapter first appeared in Readers Digest, for which I would like to thank Liz Crompton.

Significant financial and logistical support for the travel described herein came from the agents of several government tourism-promotion departments. Many of them bent their own rules to accommodate a book that might or might not promote tourism in a measurable way, but would address conservation issues of increasing importance to that industry. From west to east, I wish to thank Catherine Frechette, Miles Prodan, and Kelly Reid in the Okanagan Valley; Daryl Demoskoff in the rectangle province of Saskatchewan; Cathy Senecal and Colette Fontaine in Manitoba; Helen Lovekin and Claude Aumount in Ontario; Isabel Gil, Sophie Bouchard, and Nancy Donnelly in Quebec; Randy Brooks in Nova Scotia; and Gillian Marx in Newfoundland.

Further support for the research came via an expedition grant from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and from a science journalism award from Genome British Columbia and the University of British Columbia School of Journalism. Crucial support with expedition equipment came from Evan Froom, Chad Pysden, and Aeneas Precht.

As to sources, I am indebted to many scores of people, not all of whom I can thank by name. Often the briefest casual encounters yielded valuable information. My deepest thanks go to all those people who shared their knowledge and passion for their lake. They took time from busy lives, took me aboard their boats, took me under their roofs. The list includes all those named in the book. Others, who do not appear, nonetheless gave just as generously. In particular I would like to thank Chris Purton at the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory, Penticton; Wayne Roberts, Silver Star; B.C. Parks interpreter Scott Alexander; Eileen and Mark Sadlowski, Kelowna; Barney Reeves and Rob Watt in Waterton, Alberta; Lorelei Ford of the Saskatchewan Watershed Authority; James Sanderson, Prince Albert; Morris McLachlan, Waskesiu; Ellen MacDonald and Brett Purdy, University of Alberta; Garth van der Kamp at Environment Canada; Heather Hinam of Hecla Oasis Resort; Al Kristofferson, Alex Salki, and Len Henzdel of the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium; Gary Forma from Ontario Parks; Doug Harvey of Parks Canada; Lori Nelson at the Lake of the Woods Museum; and Anna McCrory of the Bras dOr Lakes Preservation Foundation, and a special thanks to the friends and family of Don and Pat Clysdale who gathered for a lakeside brunch on Callander Bay, Lake Nipissing.

I wish to thank Rob Sanders and his team at Greystone Books for their partnership in this adventure. In particular, thanks to: Susan Folkins of Toronto for helping me wrestle a book out of a manuscript that was, once upon a time, half again as long; and to Michael Mundhenk of Vancouver for bringing grammatical law and order to these pages. Thank you to Laurie Anderson and Marc Pelletier, who provided invaluable input on the Lac-Saint-Jean chapter.

Without the advice and support of family and friends, I could not have finished this task. Thanks to Mark Nicholson, Karin and Gabe Tate-Penna, and Dean Hoscheit for travel companionship, ongoing research perspective, and sympathetic ears. Thanks to my neighbours at Emma Lake, especially Ivy Robertson and Judee Ens. Thanks to Max Yuzak and Lee Forand for encouragement and an always-warm welcome on the west coast.

Most of all thank you, sunny Marlene, for muffins and raw pumpkin seeds, for recruiting Kali and St. Paul to the cause, for bottomless patience, for your unfailingly generous wisdom.